The Halos are Ray’d again in 6-3 loss

COREY DICKERSON (left) had four hits in Tampa Bay’s 6-3 win over the Angels Saturday in Anaheim (Keith Allison photo).

The “second half” of the 2017 baseball season isn’t off to a great start for the Los Angeles Angels. With their 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays Saturday in Anaheim, they’re now lost four of five games – including their first two after the All-Star break.

Despite good performances by Luis Valbuena – two home runs – and Mike Trout – two hits – the Angels fell into fourth place in the American League West at 45-49, and have lost seven of their last 10 games. They are now four games back in the race for the second AL wild card spot.

Angel starter J.C. Ramirez (8-8) got roughed up early, yielding four runs in the first four innings. The Halos trailed 5-0 before they rallied with one run in the eight and two in the ninth.

Situational hitting continues to be a problem for the Orange County team as they went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Combined with Friday’s contest, the Halos are 0-for-11 since the All-Star break.

For Tampa Bay (49-43), the top hitters were Corey Dickerson – four hits – and home run duo of Logan Morrison and Steven Souza. Alex Cobb (8-6) worked 7.2 innings for the Rays, giving up six hits and one run. He struck out four and walked three.

The series with Tampa Bay wraps up on Sunday with Parker Bridwell (3-1) making the start for the Angels.